Strapped for cash, a Los Angeles County transportation panel voted Wednesday to ask the federal government to help bail out a planned San Fernando Valley rail line that might otherwise be delayed up to 10 years due to shrinking mass transit dollars. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted unanimously to instruct its staff to begin the process of applying for federal funds to pay for half of an east-west line across the valley that could cost as much as $2.79 billion.

Strapped for cash, a Los Angeles County transportation panel voted Wednesday to ask the federal government to help bail out a planned San Fernando Valley rail line that might otherwise be delayed up to 10 years due to shrinking mass transit dollars. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority voted unanimously to instruct its staff to begin the process of applying for federal funds to pay for half of an east-west line across the valley that could cost as much as $2.79 billion.